The most recent ethnographyfrom the anthropologist Richard
Werbner offers a fascinating account of the state-making practices
of elites, and especially minority elites, in Botswana. In explicit
contrast to Afro-pessimistic commentaries on the subject, Werbner's
book begins with an appeal for examinations of postcolonial wisdom
by highlighting the leadership of civil and post-civil servants.
Practices of citizenship and processes of democracy are explored in
national scandals and controversial presidential commissions that
offer enlightenment through ensuing public debates, compromises,
and negotiations. Werbner's analysis of Botswana's peaceful and
passionate politics focuses on the well-advantaged minority
Kalanga, largely in contrast to the majority Tswana.

Werbner composes a powerful narrative, rich in documentation and
insight developed from more than forty years of commitment to
Botswana. His admiration for and dedication to Botswana's "inner
circle" of Kalanga elites is evident throughout the text, most
poignantly in the autobiographical moments when he describes how
"we matured as friends together" (190). An elder himself, Werbner
is in the unique position of partaking of elites' "open"
discussions at places like the Notwane Club in Gaborone, as well as
other public forums in the capital and in the north. The author's
acknowledged partiality for Kalanga perspectives will doubtless
generate controversy as Werbner participates in debates about the
country's emergent pluralism as well as about the status of public
anthropology.

Part 1, "Citizens Negotiating Power," examines several public
forums where notions of citizenship have been constituted and
contested. From Land Board controversies in the North East District
to a real estate scandal in the capital city, Werbner traces a
multiplicity of ways that Kalanga have actively participated in
both the political and financial development of a pluralist state.
Cosmopolitan ethnicity with its "dynamic of transcendence
interacting with difference" (63) is a critical component of
contemporary struggles over citizenship in Botswana. Werbner
describes, for example, how in 2000 the Balopi Commission developed
into a wide-ranging and controversial public consultation that
assessed constitutional discrimination against minorities, thereby
constituting the process of democracy. At times, one must be
conversant with Botswana's politics and personalities to follow the
energetic discussion toward understanding nuances of front-and
back-room negotiations.

Part 2, "The Rise of Public Man," complements discussions of
cosmopolitan ethnicity, civil service, and entrepreneurialism with
a biography of a Kalanga elder named Gobe Willie Matenge, a
"reasonable radical." Through a method of "reflexive unfolding"
which incorporates the voices of both Matenge and Werbner, this
biography describes the public life of one of Botswana's first
generation of top civil servants who has become a key post-civil
servant and entrepreneur. While there are many narratives by former
colonials or expatriates in Botswana, postcolonial narratives by
former civil servants are relatively rare, with the obvious
exception of presidents. Werbner's proposal for examinations of
postcolonial wisdom crystallizes in Matenge's compelling story of
public personhood.

Werbner's criticism of political anthropology for too easily
dismissing patriarchy and elderhood reveals his parallel projects
to engage the politics of both Botswana and anthropology. In the
ethnography, Werbner demands respect for elders, from Botswana and
from the discipline, respect for Gobe Willie Matenge, and also for
the anthropologist Meyer Fortes. He rightly suggests that elders
have much to teach the younger generations. Yet this seminal work
of engaged retrospection leaves it to the imagination to question
what will come for the next generation of reasonable radicals in a
rapidly changing world.

Mieka Ritsema

Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut

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